A cross medium artistic experienceThe Dedham Square Artist Guild joined forces with the Parish Players, an intergenerational theatre group composed mostly of members from First Church and Paris...

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A cross medium artistic experience

The Dedham Square Artist Guild joined forces with the Parish Players, an intergenerational theatre group composed mostly of members from First Church and Parish in Dedham, and organized an artist challenge that will pay tribute to Lewis Carroll’s "Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland."

Opening night is Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Dedham Community Theatre, 580 High St.

The guild will have selected artworks on display this weekend at the First Church and Parish in Dedham, 670 High St.

Dedham Middle School eighth grade students also created artworks based on "Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland" that will be on display this weekend in the church hall.

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The Parish Players will perform "Alice in Wonderland" this weekend, but not the version of the play you might be accustomed to.

Set in a mythical Appalachian land, the performance showcases elaborate costumes and a detailed set inspired by local artist Marietta Apollonio’s paintings.

When Alice falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of peculiar characters, the curtains open up to a set covered in vertical green, blue and red stripes.

"She does all this cool paintings that always have stripes on it, so we incorporated the stripes on our set design," Associate Producer Meg Duncan said Monday of Apollonio, who is a co-founder of the Dedham Square Artist Guild.

Costumes are just as elaborate, depicting Alice’s dream escape. The White Queen, for example, steps on stage sporting a long white wig, a quilted skirt and a lace crown.

Designer Becca Hutton said she found inspiration in previous Parish Players’ costumes that she adapted to portray the mythical Appalachian theme.

"I really work from an organic place. We have a lot of things that we’ve collected over time, and I started there," Hutton, 30, said Monday shortly before actors took the stage during dress rehearsal. "It’s definitely the best show we’ve ever done. We’re using wigs. We’re doing a lot more creation of items."

Lewis Carroll’s "Alice in Wonderland" tells the story of a girl who finds herself in a fantasy world, where she follows a very anxious rabbit around and receives advice from a caterpillar smoking a hookah.

Georgia Krikorian, 14, says that her character, Alice, goes through a self-discovery process.

"Alice is one of my favorite characters," said Georgia, who is a freshman at Dedham High School. "She’s just such an interesting person to play."

Georgia has been acting for several years, but this will be the first production that requires her to be on stage in almost every scene. She said she is a bit nervous, but also excited.

"It’s definitely a new experience, not having breaks in between," she said. "But, I find it more fun because I get to be on stage more and experience more of the scenes with different actors."

Andrés Molano, 17, will give life to the rabbit, a flustered, panicky character that is constantly running late. He said he gets into a "freaking out kind of mode" every time he steps on stage.

"I have to be in that mode of panic," he explained. "I just think of being late to rehearsal, and I just get panicky."

Sweet Haven, a Dedham-based band, will perform throughout the play, giving a bluegrass feel to Lewis Carroll’s songs.